KINSTON — What started out as a routine trip turned into a nearly catastrophic experience for a Kinston driver.

On Tuesday around 10:35 a.m., Phillip Kermon was eating breakfast while trying to park at the Piggly Wiggly on U.S. 70 East. However, he lost control of his car after a piece of food became lodged in his throat.

“I was eating a bacon biscuit and I got strangled by it,” Kermon said. “I was trying to stop the car and thought I did.”

Instead, Kermon blacked out and slammed into the nearby King’s Restaurant, shattering glass and destroying metal in one part of the lobby. Although the car suffered significant damage on both sides in the front and had a shattered back window from a support beam, Kermon made it out of the vehicle unharmed.

“I don’t remember anything,” Kermon said. “When I came to, I was wondering why I had a roof on my window. I’m just thankful there weren’t any people right there.”

Waitress Edna Houston was on her way to a table when she noticed the red Toyota Camry closing in on the restaurant.

“I was walking to service a couple of customers and saw a car coming toward the building,” Houston said. “I knew it wasn’t going to stop, so I ran to the kitchen to get the supervisor. I heard a boom, turned around and saw the car in the lobby.”

The crash had owner Joe Hargitt turning away customers for about 30 minutes, but he said business ran as usual after that.

“We could still get people in on the other side,” Hargitt said. “There wasn’t any other damage besides the right side of the lobby.”

By 11:45 a.m., the car had been removed from the building and the debris from the crash had been removed.

“By lunch time, you couldn’t even tell there was a wreck,” Hargitt said.

Business will run as usual for King’s, but the building won’t be good as new for an extended period of time.

“I was told we’ll have to order new metal for the frame, and it would take about two weeks for repairs,” Hargitt said.